Italian Easy: Creamy Roasted Red Pepper and Cauliflower Soup

Italian Easy focuses on casual, home-style Italian cooking. Superb Italian food needn't be time consuming or overly complex. The essence of Italian cooking is simplicity. Use the freshest seasonal ingredients possible, then use basic cooking techniques only to enhance the natural flavor of the food. Come join Deborah Mele of Italian Food Forever every other week for a new recipe.

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It's been very rainy and gray in Umbria these past few weeks, and once I feel the need to curl up in front of a roaring fire or layer up to keep warm, I begin craving a warm bowl of soup. Properly executed, it's enough to make you feel good on even the nastiest of days. You can use just about any combination of ingredients to make a comforting pot of soup, but I tend to focus on seasonal local vegetables, along with some hearty regional grains.

On a recent trip to the outdoor market in Deruta, I came across some gorgeous heads of cauliflower and ended up buying two. I used just one of the heads in combination with roasted red peppers to make this creamy soup, and it made enough for several lunches. It's flavored with little more than sautéed onion and garlic, fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and a pinch of hot chili flakes. The roasted peppers add a nice smoky depth to the soup; if you feel so inclined, you can even step it up with a pinch of smoked paprika.

[Photographs: Deborah Mele]

When it comes to puréed or creamy-textured soups, I avoid using dairy products or starchy thickeners and opt for an ordinary boiled potato, instead. The starch in the potato adds the thickness I like, without heavy cream's calories or the grainy texture you can often get with starch-based thickeners like flour. I also find that when I thicken my soups with potato, they freeze better and retain that smooth texture once thawed and reheated.

[Photographs: Deborah Mele]

When serving a creamy soup, it can look flat or boring without some type of garnish. You can garnish your soup with a drizzle of sour cream and some chopped fresh chives or thyme, or sauté up a crouton, apple, and pancetta mixture, as I do here. The croutons add a crunchy texture, the pancetta a salty bite, and the apples a little sweetness that works beautifully with this type of soup.

About the Author: Deborah Mele is the owner of Italian Food Forever, an Italian recipe blog, as well as Recipe Rebuild, a healthy recipe blog she shares with her daughter Christy, an RD. Deborah lives 6 months a year in Umbria, Italy where she oversees her guest house Il Casale di Mele.

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Deborah Mele is a self-taught cook whose passion for Italian cuisine began almost 40 years ago when she married into a large Italian family overflowing with talented cooks. After living in Milan, Italy for 8 years Deborah changed; although not Italian by birth, she became a true Italian by heart and palate and Deborah created her Italian recipe blog ItalianFoodForever.com 12 years ago to share her passion for Italian food.

During her various travels throughout Italy, Deborah fell in love with the central Italian region of Umbria and Deborah and her husband bought two farmhouses there where they now reside for six months a year and run a farmhouse rental for guests. Deborah's life in Umbria the past five years has led to developing a deeper understanding, expertise, and passion for Umbrian cuisine that she now shares in cooking classes in her Umbrian kitchen.

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